Method of feeding people



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J. M. BAITINGER AMETHOD 0F FEEDING PEOPLE vrifri'mal Filed July 5, 191 4shuts- Sheet 1 N ooooooooooooooooooooodooo v *A o s H a 1 .m m G Nov. 3I1925. Re. 16,195

J. M. BAITINGER METHOD 0F FEEDI-NG PEOPLE rigmal Filed July 5, .1919 4sheets-sheet 2 l.john NdH-nger J M BAITINGER METHOD OF FEEDING PEOPLEOrizial Filed July a, 1919 u @..mrw J vw R m accom@ L Y w p w p Een 33 MNIMH' Nom-3, 1925' Nov. 3l 1925. Re. 16,195

- J. M. BAITINGER METHOD oF FEEDING PEOPLE Orizinal Filed July 5, 1919 4sheets-Sheet 4 l gwuvntoz John M-bdijrirer' Reissued Nov. .3, 19(2 5 l lUNITED STATESA PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN I. BAITINGEB, OF lST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

METHOD or EEEDING PEOPLE.

Original `Nef1,448,211, dated January 18, 1923, Serial No. 308,885,leaiv July 5,'19'18. Application for y reissue-Med April 2,1924. SerialRe. 708,826.

To all rwhom it'may. concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN M. BAITINGER,

a citizen of the UnitedStates residing at St. Paul, inthe county of mseyand State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMethods of Feeding People, of which the following is a specification. Myinventionrelates to the method of feeding .a large number of peopleconveniently in a short time, the rimary feature being that variouskinds of oods are passed before the people seated at the dining table sothat they can readily help themselves as the food passes before them.on'a train Aof cars.

The cafeteria plan of .restaurant is very popular today where food isserved so that the people 'can ass^by a counter and select the variousfoods that they desire and then carry the ,food on a t'a to a dinintable. This apparently 'is an i cal way of of food that they desire,because of the .fact

that if a large number of people entered a restaurantl of this charactertogether,

some of them hold up others from passing by thecounters which displaythe food an thus delay those that may be in a hurry to u select theirmeal and depart from the j passes automatically be foreach canl be arrarestaurant. My method of'feeding people overcomes this dillculty' byallow the le to enter the restaurant an` imiately be seatedat the diningtable while a train -of cars carrying the various foods ore them andthey can help themselves without inconveniencin any of 'the .peopleseated at the table.

e food trahif continues to travel cen- A muy through the' dining tablewhile the ple are seated on either side oflthe same and if they donottgt the food the desire the rst time that car carrying t esamepasses'by their place, they can helpthemselves the -next time' it'. by,.the cars being filled as they pas rough the kitchen and the food beingdiahed -out into indi.

vidual helpings so that it can be'readily removed by the people seatedat the dining i table.

In carrying out my -method a set price f so that all pay the same priceand a ow the patrons to eedingpeople, but it is not satisfactory atcertain;

help themselves to as many helpings as they desire, as it is evidentthat some will eat more and some less so that when the successfullyoperate the same thus materially reducin the cost of feeding the people.

vThis w1ll be readily understood when it is .taken into considerationthat no waiters are required, or dish collectors as the food is passedbefore the people in a train of cars and some of the cars are soconstructed as to yreceive'the used dishes .to return them to thekitchen,where they are quickly removed.

To assistin describ' my method, I havel illustrated, in the rawings, a'simple the same, it being evident that various means can be providedfor carrying out this methodv Figure 1 illustrates, diagrammaticall, aich v plan view of a form of dining table w can be used in carrying outmy' method.

vmechanical construction for carrying out Figure 2 illustrates a crosssection on the line 2-2 of Figure` 1 of the diningtable'.

Figure 3 is aside elevation of a ortion of the dining table, part ofwhich is roken awa 4 illustrates -a ortion of the food train,^showingsome of t e cars which make up the train.

Figure 5 illustrates another. portion of the train. v f

Figure 6 illustrates a plan view of a por-` tion of the train, some' ofthe cars being broken away.

Figure 7 is a mechanism. v v- Y Figure 8 is a view on the line 8-8 of Fiure 7.

igure 9 is a cross section similar to Figure 2, illustrating analternative con'- struction. 1- f' Figure 10 isffa side elevation of thecondetail of a portion of the only a portion of the same being licv Vortables to display food to the people seated at the same. Chairs orstools 2 are provid-- ed forthe people, of any construction, and asubway C is provided so that people can pass fromv the outside of thetables to the inner side, thus allowing them to be. seated adjacenteither table thereby accommodating a' large number of people at onetime.

-vided to display the various foods as the A portion D of the counter Xvextends through the kitchen E, which is separated from the dining-roomby the wall F so that the kitchen or no portion of the same is visiblefrom the dining-room, but openings 3 are provided in the wall F to allowthe food train to pass freely through and into and out of the kitchenwhen it is in operation. This construction provides a very neatappearing dining-room and if it is desired a very elaborate food traincan be pro- -train passes along 'the dining tables. The kitchen isarranged in any suitable manner so that the train can be supplied withvfood when it is in operation, eachl car beingr filled as it assesthrough the kitchen with the food ished into individual helpings, thetrain' being kept in motion, thus causing no delay in serving thoseseated at the table and allowing them to freely help themselves. Asuitable gravity carrier G, of any wellknown construction, may be usedto remove the trays of used dishes and while onl one gravity carrier Gis illustrated, it 1s vobvious that any number can be used in thekitchen to carry out my method. The train travels along the diningtables A in the directionl of the arrows illustrated in Figure 1. ,Asuitable switch not shown in the drawings can be provided in the kitchenso as to remove any or all of the cars of the train from the track, ifit is desired.

The train B travels on the rails 4, which are secured in a suitablemanner in the track such as 1 in the counter X, and is madeV up of aseries yof cars or pl tes 5, which are connected together in an suitablemanner, each car having a si n 6, which is carried by a support 7, toesignate whatv the car or plate contains or carries, so that the peopleseated at the tables` can see at a glance what is on the same and beready to ielp themselves if they desire some of the food o n the samewhen it passes their place. The'cars or plates 5 are preferably similarto fiat cars so that the food can be readily removed as the train assesautomatically through the dining tab e. All of the illus? trations inthe-drawing-are only diagrammatic` as itis clearly evident that 4`anysuitable train can be provided of any suitable mechanical construction.It is evldentV that in view of the curved track, the wheels of the cars,must be swivelly connected to the bodies in any well known manner. isessential, however, that plain cars, or plates such as 8, are providedin the .train for carrying bread and other foods of this nature; also aheated car 9, which is provided with a compartment 10 for carrying alheated soap stone, the top of this car being of material such: asaluminum to transmit the heat freely to the dishes containing the food011 the top of the same, and this car being for the purpose of carryingfoods that it is desired to keep warm until they are served.

A refrigerator car 11 isal'so provided in the train, which is formed soas to carry a layer 12 of cracked ice below the screen top 13,'so thatice cream or other foods that it is desired to keep cool can be placeddirectl on the top of the ice on the screen 13, an 'a silverware car 14isformed with compartments for the various silverware required in adining-room. kThe used dish car or plate 15 has a dish tray 16, .whichis freely removed `b the handles 17 whenit is full of used disl'ies, asthis car comes into the kitchen and a clean, empty dish tray placed onthe plate 15,. It is obvious that the heated car 9 can be heated by anysuitlt zA able means and it is also evident that the v refrigerator car11 ca: be of any suitable construction. It is pre erred, however, thatthe cars or plates be opened to such an ex- `tent that the food can befreely removed from the same.

The train of cars B are adapted to be driven in any suitable manner, thedrawing illustrating the train B connected vto 'a continuous articulateddrive chain belt 18,

to slowl draw t e train of plates B around4 people at the (liningv thetrac 4-so that the table can freely and easily remove the food from thetrain B. The `speed of .the train can be regulated b the drivingmechanism.

The chain or be t 18 is driven bya suitable s rocket 21 and a guard22 isprovided to ho d the chain 18 in'to engagement with the sprocket. Asuitable electric motor- 23, which is positionedl in the floor of thedin-` ing-room, as illustrated in Figure 1, operates the drive shaft 24,which is connected by suitable gears to drive the shaft 25 and the shaft25 1s rigidly secured to the sprocket 21 so that when the motox` 23operates, the chain 18 will be operated by the sprocket 21 and theplates 5 connected to the chain will be drawn around the tracks 4. It isWhen a person is through eatin he places his useddishes on the car anthey .are returned to the kitchen automatically,

leaving the place clean for the next person. This should be a rule of arestaurant carrying out this method and thereby providing a' clean placefor the next person wish- --ing to dine at the table.v By the use-ofthis method people can be fed much cheaper than .v with the presentmeans'and thus if'it is f train B centrally. located below the train tothe kitchen without interferin desired'` one price can be arranged forall of the people eating at the-table A, as it is clear y evident thatsomev will eat less than others and .no one will feel that they would-want to overeat at a' ublic table of this nature, while it willvpermissible to eat all they desire, 'so'that' they can freely lhelpthemselves to more than one helping if they wish. w

The construction of the device, illustrated in Figures 9 and 10,provides an auxiliary B in the table A forpused dishes only, so that. inthis construction the used dishes can be returned to the kitchen bymeans of the train' Bf and laccess tol the train B is "had throughthe'screen door 26 so that the dishes can. be placed on the Atrain-B andreturned with the food train B, the food train runnmg on top ofl thecounter and displaying the food in the same manner as heretoforedescribed.

yIn theQconstruction of, train illustrated in l j Figures 9 and 1o, a'4climi rail track 4' is and from the'i'nner -side oft'he same.

p'ovided so vthat the trains Brand B can driven-by a suitable electricmotor car of ordinaryconstruction..` It is also evident that the traincan be lighted -at night by electricityI in the ordinary Well-knownmanner,` and if it is desired some yof the cars heated by eletricalmeans. In Figurev -10 at 10', an electrical heating unit is shownwhich-may be connected to thethird vrail in any well known way toprovide the requisite electrical ener y .-The food train I3 duringserving hours and operates continuously.

ner and outer-sides of the train, the subway C 'forming 'a unique meansfor passage to 4 it is desired to carry out the method in such a wayVthat each person pays only for what he eats, it can be arranged'sothatl hecan put his order on the train and have it carried to thekitchen where it .can be 'filled,

j having a number to designate each place,

or they can help themselves anda checker can vissue a ticket or check oftheamount:`

convenient old methods `of for heating the unit.l

is sup lied.from the kitchen'in the most practica Vway'. A,

' table.

which should be paid by each' person when leaving the restaurant. Therincipal idea in the method is to feed a arge number of people in theshortest possible time and at a minimum cost so as to .give them asmuch. for their money as' possible, doing. away with all unnry hel .andthe infoods and dishes, still giving. the best of service.

ndling the l The construction illustrated in the draw- `ing isV onlydiagrammatic and the method Acan be carried out by any suitableconstruction and in an scope of the f o lowing claims. y

suitablemanner within the I claim 1. In' afood servi mechanism, a table,a plurality of normal y open food recepta-r cles ada ted to besuccessivel moved along said tab e -tol accessibly disp ay said food,

means for `maintaining -some of said food.

receptacles ata predetermined temperature and -means for interchan ablyattaching said temperature muintaimngnneans upon other of saidreceptacles.

' 2. In ar food serving mechanism, a table, a plurality of normally openfood receptacles ada ted. to be successively moved alon said tab e toaccessibly ldisplay the foo therein, and detachable means mounted onsome of-said food receptacles for maintaining said receptacle and lthefood within `the same at a predetermined temperature.

' 3. In combination, a counter, a food carrier mounted on the u perportionof said counter, a air of tables mounted oneither said counter,food receptacles accessible from both vsides mountedv on the carrier, aused dish conveyer positioned within said counter below said foodconveyer and hinged doors positioned at intervals alon counter to giveaccess to said use( dish conve er. f

4. n a food servingniechanism, a continuous circuitous counter,`anendless carrier positioned along said counter, a circuitous endlesstable .positioned on each side of said endless'carrier, seats positionedon the inside and outside of said counter adjacent said tables andmeansfor conducting customers from the inner table to the outerv table.

5. In a. food serving mechanism, a 'conf t-inuous' circuitous counter,anv endless currier positioned along said counter, a circuicent saidtables and a subway for conducting` customers from side of said food`carrier projecting over said lis

the inner table to the' outer f-'i 6. yA serving mechanism forrestaurants.

comprising-la continuous circuitous counter, an endless food carrierpositioned onthe upper portion of said counter, a continuous tablepositioned along the outside of said carrier, seats positioned adjacentSaid table, a second continuous table positioned on the inside of saidcarrier, seats positioned adjacent said second table, and a subwayleading from the. interior of said circuitous counter to the exteriorthereof for conducting customers from the inner seats to the outside. i

7. In a mechanical restaurant, including a dining table, a food trainadapted to pass through the center of the top of said table, means foroperating said train, said train being composed ot' a sei-ies ofindividual cars for carrying various kinds of foods past the peopleSeated at the dining table and having heated cars, refrigerator cars,dining uteny plates and containers with a.

sil cars, dirty dish cars and plain cars, all of which are open and arefreely accessible to the people seated at the table, for the purposesspecified.

8.,A dispensing system such as described, comprising anarticulatedconveyer, adapted to have containers thereon; means tormoving said conve er through a predetermined course; a plat ormcontiguous to said conveyer whereby articles may be removed from theconveyer onto said 'platform and an auxiliary conveyer mounted on theunderside of said first mentioned conveyer.

9. A dispensing system such as described comprising a. conveyer composedof a series of plates all similar and successively articulated to oneanother and mounted atone side upon a continuous chain belt; sprocketwheels for moving said chain belt through a predetermined course; alplatform contiguous to said conveyer whereby articles may be removedfrom said conveyer onto said platform; and an auxiliary conveying meansmounted beneath said first mentined conveyer and operated in unisontherewith.

10. A dispensing system such as described comprisingqa conveyer composedof a series of pla-tes adapted to have containers mounted thereon; anarticulated chain belt secured at one side to each of said plates; meansfor moving said chain belt' through a redetermined course; lmeans forsup lying said eating medium; a platform contiguous to said conveyerwhereby articles may be removed from l said conveyer onto said platform.i

11. A- conveyer system such` as described comprising a series ofplates'adapte'd to have containers mounted thereon; an articulated chainbelt secured to said plates on one side thereof; sprocket wheels 4formaintaining said chain belt in predetermined relation; 4means for movingsaid belt by rotation of one of said sprocket wheels; guide tracks4mounted beneath said series of plates and casters swivelly mounted onthe underface of `said plates and engaging said guide tracksforfsupporting said conveyer in operative position.

12. A conveyer system such as described comprising a series of platesadapted to have containers mounted thereon; means for heating saidcontainers onsaid plates; an articulated chain belt secured to saidplates on one side thereof: sprocket wheels for maintaining said chainbelt in predetermined relation; means for moving said belt by rotationof one of said sprocket wheels; guide tracks mounted beneath said seriesof plates and casters swivelly mounted on the under face of said platesand engaging said guide tracks for supporting said conveyer in op`ei'ative position.

13. Apconvever system such as describedcertain of said containers with aheating me dium from a relatively stationary source.

' left. 'A dispensing system such as described com rising, a conveyercomposed of a series of p ates adapted tov have containers mountedthereon; anl articulated chain belt secured at one side of said plates;means for moving said chain belt through a predetermined course andcasters swivelly mounted on the under side of said plates for supportingthe same in operative position.

15. A dispensing system such as described comprising an articulateconveyer, means Vfor moving said conveyer through a predeterminedcourse, a latform contiguous to said conveyer where y articles may beremoved from the conveyer onto said platform said conveyer including aseries of supporting plates and means for supplying certain said plateswith a heating medium from a' relatively stationary source.

16. A food. serving mechanism comprising a series of plates adapted tohave containers secured to said sprocket wheels or maintaining saidchain belt in predetermined relation, means. for moving said belt byrotation of said sprocket wheels, guide tracks mounted beneath said-mountedthereom an articulated chain belt lates on one side thereof,

lad

series of plates and caster wheels swivelly l mounted under said platesand engaging said guide tracks for supporting saidrconsition.

M. BAITINGER.

veyer in operative

